Electronic commerce today is comprised of a collection of closed communities. Examples of such communities include local and long distance telephone companies, cable companies, cellular telephone companies, E-mail services, and electronic service providers such as Prodigy and CompuServe. Customers must enroll in each community in order to use the products and services provided. Thus, prior identification of the payer is required before electronic delivery of merchandise or services. The operator of the service can then either bill the customer, credit his/her loan account, or debit his/her deposit account.
With the advent of high-speed networks delivering entertainment and information on demand, the current billing and payment systems will be flooded with transactions. Consequently, the customer will be bombarded by invoices with numerous items for each billing period. Moreover, the customer""s lifestyle will be exposed to each system operator due to the non-anonymous nature of the transactions.
One method of anonymous payment is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,601 issued on Sept. 26, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. That application discloses an electronic monetary system for implementing electronic money payments as an alternative medium of exchange to cash, checks, credit cards, debit cards, and electronic funds transfers. In particular, the described system uses money modules packaged in tamper-proof housings to store and transfer electronic notes. Money module payments may be either real-time, off-line payments between money modules (e.g., between a money module contained within a customer""s xe2x80x9celectronic walletxe2x80x9d and a money module contained within a merchant""s point-of-sale terminal), or on-line payments for network services such as information retrieval and telephone calls, or for purchasing airline tickets, theater tickets, etc.
However, a serious problem with remote, anonymous purchase is the security of payment and delivery. If one wants to purchase a movie over the telephone anonymously, then how can the buyer be assured he will receive the movie if he pays first, or the seller be assured that he will be paid if he delivers the movie first? Thus, when purchasing anything from a remote location, it is customary today for the buyer and seller to first identify themselves, leading to a consequent loss of privacy.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a system which will allow customers to buy electronic merchandise or services on demand without enrolling in an electronic community.
It is another object of the present invention to enable remote delivery of electronic merchandise or services with real-time anonymous payment or real-time authorization-based payment where neither the customer nor the merchant can interfere with the payment and delivery process once they have agreed to the transaction.
It is another object of the present invention to use trusted agents and money modules to create a system for open electronic commerce where both customers and merchants can securely transact remotely over electronic networks without prior knowledge of each other.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a secure electronic real-time purchase transaction between buyer and seller without third-party intervention.
According to one aspect of the invention, a customer trusted agent establishes a cryptographically secure session with a merchant trusted agent. The customer trusted agent securely communicates with a first money module, and the merchant trusted agent securely communicates with a second money module. The merchant trusted agent delivers electronic merchandise that is provisionally retained by the customer trusted agent. The trusted agents participate in a secure dialogue and mutually agree on the payment terms. The first money module transmits electronic money to the second money module. Upon successful completion of the money module payment, the first money module informs the customer trusted agent, and the second money module informs the merchant trusted agent. The merchant then logs the sale and the customer may use the purchased electronic merchandise.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the customer may pay for the electronic merchandise by presenting a credential representing a credit or debit card.
According to a third aspect of the invention, electronic tickets may be presented to other trusted agents in order to obtain services.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the trusted agents may be used for performing a secure identity-based payment.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the trusted agents may be used to resolve a dispute over purchased electronic merchandise.